1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates a technique for providing a user interface for print setting.
2. Description of the Related Art
A printer driver is provided with a dedicated user interface to perform detailed print setting. In printing with use of an application, a user presses a button for performing detailed setting, and in response to the operation, the user interface of the printer driver is invoked through an operating system. If the operation varies depending on manufacturers or models, the user has difficulty using the user interfaces. To solve the problem, a tab-format property sheet is provided. The printer driver adds a page to the individual tabs according to the operating system to create a user interface.
In recent years, in addition to conventional user interfaces for pointing devices, operating systems capable of changing the user interface to a user interface that can be easily operated on a touch panel have been provided. The change of the user interfaces of the operating system requires change of user interfaces of the printer driver. This requires a new printer driver.
However, the creation of the new printer driver for all existing printers is troublesome, and the users cannot use the printers until the creation is completed. To maintain the compatibility with the conventional printer driver which is currently running, an operating system capable of switching the screen from a new user interface and invoking the conventional user interface is provided.
Further, a new user interface may be dynamically established without displaying the conventional user interface. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-331339 discusses a method of providing a plurality of layout definition files and selecting a layout depending on a displaying device.